Past Life Returner

Chapter 252

The department that handled money attracted both people and power. Therefore, the management officer who actually managed the slush funds within the financial team was in a high position. After all, that was where the money that was given to public officials and politicians came from. Basically, the slush fund was a source of authority. Even the heads of affiliates had to book an appointment one year in advance in order to meet the slush fund manager. That was why the managers were considered the chairman’s close personnel. Tae-Han’s father had handed over the management to his sister because of that reason when he put Tae-Han beside her. Tae-Han needed to work hard for a long time to take that particular power.

However, the rules of the capital world were the same in the Stage of Advent. At first, it was simply interesting, but he soon realized that the financial scope of mana stone was wide-ranging. The individuals in the Sky Guild were all somewhat stronger than the Awakened in the north, and Tae-Han easily made the connection that it was due to the mana stone economy. Therefore, he didn’t attempt to block the mana stone economic system after the forces became acquainted with each other. In fact, he somewhat encouraged it to spread around.

In fact, Tae-Han had wanted to recruit Joo Pan-Seok, the captain of Gold Squad and the President of Mana Stone Bank. However, he soon noticed that it was difficult to entice the captains of the top ten-ranked squads over as they already had strong ties with the south.

Therefore, his alternative choice was to find a vice-captain. Kim Ji-Hoon, the vice-captain of Miracle Squad, was perfect. Since the vice-captain had grown up in a poor family unlike the others, he was filled with a desire for success. Furthermore, he was so witty that Tae-Han wondered why he wasn’t more successful on Earth. After all, he was one of the few who had managed to survive the massacre while the other captains and vice-captains were slaughtered.

After returning to the north and attending a meeting, Tae-Han called Ji-Hoon in for a separate conversation.

“I can relax now that I saw you come back in good health. I have been nervous ever since I heard you left for the south.”

Tae-Han responded, “I also stopped by the place where the tragedy occurred, and now I don’t understand how you managed to survive.”

Ji-Hoon smiled weakly. “As I told you before… I knew Odin would appear, so I stayed alert.”

Tae-Han remarked, “I love competent people, especially people like you who have gone through rags to riches. But you must know that people close to me never lie. Those who get caught are punished brutally.”

The other man protested, “No, I didn’t lie. The reason why I couldn’t tell you was that…”

Ji-Hoon hadn’t said anything beyond the fact that he had been prepared for Odin’s appearance, but it was obvious that something else had also occurred. Tae-Han narrowed his eyes.

Ji-Hoon hurriedly continued, “Odin appeared at the moment I backed up to the rear as I had thought that the fight was already over. When we fought against Kwon Seong-Il, I did my best like everyone else. Please trust me, chairman. I’m not someone who would betray my colleagues and escape to live.”

“Captain Kim.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You didn’t deliberately leave anything out of your report, right?”

Tae-Han’s language was mild, but his eyes were cold.

“No, sir, I didn’t.”

“Then, think carefully again.”

“Pardon me?”

Tae-Han clarified, “About Odin. Did you miss or forget anything? Or are you confident that you’ve told me everything?”

Ji-Hoon thought quickly and said, “In the past, Odin was a peculiar guy. He never hung out or stayed close to any of his classmates.”

“If he was such a weird guy, why can’t you remember his name?” Tae-Han asked sharply.

Ji-Hoon shrugged. “Why do you think I wouldn’t tell you his name? It’s not a big deal, but I seriously don’t remember his first name at all. I do know that his last name is Na.”

Tae-Han continued, “You said you went to Shin Eung Middle School, right?”

Ji-Hoon nodded. “Yes, I graduated in 2000. There are no alumni or teachers from that school in the south, but there might be some in the north. If you give me the authority, I will try my best to search for anyone involved and track them down as much as I can.”

Tae-Han ordered, “Proceed while heading south.”

At that moment, Ji-Hoon’s face turned ghastly white. It was paler than it had been when he had first been called in to be interrogated by Tae-Han.

Ji-Hoon’s voice trembled, “With great respect… Odin will kill me, and how will I be able to perform my other responsibility in the north if I leave for the south, sir? Do you want Odin to kill m…me?”

“Odin isn’t there anymore, and the situation between the south and the north is over. Are you going to stay quiet now?”

***

No conflict broke out because Odin had already spoken to the remaining people in the south. The first thing Tae-Han did when he came into the south with his people was to recruit everyone that he had wanted before. Those were the leaders of the attack squads, and most of these people had already succeeded outside of society.

Tae-Han met them one by one. He had hidden his identity behind the helmet until now, but there was no more reason to do so. His fame worked well to erase the South’s remaining vigilance toward the North. The Sky Guild disappeared, and they became integrated into the Ilsung Guild. The Awakened in the entire region was now united under one crest.

“Waaaaah!”

After the coronation ceremony ended, Tae-Han returned to his residence. On the opposite side was the building where Odin sometimes stayed at, but neither Odin nor his henchman had returned to the guild. His room was empty, but it still felt like Odin was there.

Tae-Han had intentionally chosen a house in front of Odin’s place as a daily reminder to himself that there was nothing that came free in the world. Just as he easily took over the entire Sky Guild, he knew that there would be a day when he would be asked to do something bigger than this.

Tae-Han couldn’t fully enjoy his power as he was very nervous. It felt like his ass was being kicked all over the place, and he felt like a monkey in Buddha’s hand[1]. Since he couldn’t guess Odin’s intentions at all, he had been living with immense pressure ever since Odin turned the guild over to him. Tae-Han’s plan to regain Ilsung’s stake under the sponsorship of Odin and the Karjan Group was scrapped before he had even tried to take action. Everything he had planned, such as creating and running a spy network, had instantly become superfluous.

Then, Ji-Hoon came.

“This lady was a Korean teacher at the time.”

A woman who looked to be around her sixties bowed forward.

***

“He was the most impressive student I had ever encountered in my career as a teacher. And… I remember the time when we organized a new semester for seventh grade. I was a teacher for another fifteen years after Seon-Hu graduated, but that was the only time we put all the troublemakers in the same class. Thanks to him, they didn’t cause any problems that year.”

Odin’s name was Na Seon-Hu.

“Do you remember his family?” Tae-Han asked.

The woman nodded. “Yes, of course. His dad was unique too.”

“In what way?”

The older woman explained, “Seon-Hu had a poor attitude in class, but he had the highest GPA in school. I had high expectations for him. However, he missed school multiple times, so there were several meetings to decide whether we should expel him or not. However, his dad got mad and told the principal not to intervene in his kid’s educational policy. He said it didn’t matter as long as he attended the minimum days required to graduate. So… Umm… The vice principal at the time, Mr. Lee Pan-Soo, was in charge of him, so I…”

The lady then tensed up.

Tae-Han said in a soothing tone, “Take your time. Just tell us what you remember calmly, but don’t make up things that didn’t happen.”

She nodded. “Yes, of course.”

Tae-Han inquired, “What was Seon-Hu’s dad like? What kind of job did he have?”

She responded, “Back then, no one knew he would become that famous. Later, my colleagues asked me if I remembered Seon-Hu and his dad.”

Tae-Han frowned slightly. “Famous?”

“He was the President of Jeonil Bank. I’m just telling you what I heard. I don’t know if that is true…”

Tae-Han’s eyes widened. Na Jeon-Il, the former President of Jeonil Bank! He had met him several times before the older man had retired. The last name ‘Na’ was rare, so he was certain that Odin was related to him.

When his face stiffened considerably, the woman lowered her head with an anxious look. Following that, Tae-Han gave her a high-level item after she promised him that she would never reveal these stories to anyone else. He wanted her to remind herself about the responsibility for not divulging information whenever she looked at the item.

Odin was related to Jeonil? But why did the Karjans…

Tae-Han called one more person over after sending the lady away. Thinking that the elderly were less competitive than the younger Awakened was false. After all, many of them had regained their youthful vigor as soon as they awakened, and those who were addicted to their power became stronger and crueler. The old man who accompanied Tae-Han was an example of one of them. Also, he must have been acquainted with the President of Jeonil Bank. He had served as the head of the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation and had lots of experience in the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

“Do you remember Na Jeon-Il?” Tae-Han asked.

The old man looked puzzled. “Why are you looking for the bank president all of a sudden? He had more authority than other executives, so we thought he was destined to work for the group that had his name. You already know this though.”

Of course, Tae-Han knew as he had several occasions to meet Na Jeon-Il in public, especially during the time when the resort construction began.

“Have you heard anything about his only son?”

The old man replied with a quizzical look, “He loved his child very much, but that made sense. His son became a successful guy at a young age.”

Tae-Han raised an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah? Why?”

The old man elaborated, “After he graduated from middle school, he took the GED instead of going to high school.”

“Then?”

“He joined Jonathan Investment Group as an analyst.”

Tae-Han widened his eyes and flinched. Then, his entire body started to shake.

“And?” he asked faintly.

“He led the major businesses of the group.”

Tae-Han murmured, “But why didn’t the media ever mention him? They treated Brian Kim as a hero who saved the country. But Na Jeon-Il’s son was successful outside of Korea at a young age. On top of that, he worked in the Jonathan Group.”

The old man explained, “President Na blocked all the news because he hated things getting noisy, especially when it’s about his family. But what happened? Why are you asking me all these questions?”

Tae-Han was certain that Odin was supported by Jeonil in Korea and Jonathan Investment abroad. At the same time, his power as an Awakened exceeded the power of all the Awakened in the world. He was such a tycoon.

Tae-Han suddenly got goosebumps. The more he researched about Odin, the more names of unbelievably powerful individuals and groups came out. He could be somehow convinced that Odin had links with Jeonil and the Karjans, but Jonathan Investment was on another level. Tae-Han felt as if he had opened Pandora’s box.

He might be related to Telestar or Gillian too. Damn.

Only the ordinary public believed that Jeonil, the Karjans and the Jonathan Group had nothing in common with each other besides the fact that they were all large foreign capitals. Tae-Han’s understanding was different as he remembered the name that he had always envied. The Bilderberg Club was the meeting between elites who created orders around the world! The owners of huge capitals and the presidents of North America were all members of the club, and they controlled the world behind the scenes.

Tae-Han was certain, and he even had evidence. Just looking at the fact that the head of the Karjans had already established the World Awakened Association and heralded the Stage of Advent, that hinted that the huge capitals knew about the alien invasion in advance. They must have prepared for a while, and that was the sole reason why the global economy remained intact, which logically should have collapsed. This wasn’t just a guess. If it was, then nothing else could explain Odin’s background and devilish abilities.

Tae-Han’s fingertips began to tremble.

Odin was… he was… their weapon that they worked hard to develop… Yes… that must be it…

Mankind’s strategic weapon!

He suddenly announced, “Stop it.”

The old man looked startled. “What do you mean?”

Tae-Han whispered, “Stop everything we have going on that is related to Odin.”

He couldn’t bear to raise his voice as Odin could be somewhere around, listening to him.

He ordered again, “Stop it right now, and don’t leave a trace.”

“Sir? Are you okay?”

Tae-Han’s eyes narrowed. “We should also kill those two.”

Kim Ji-Hoon and the lady who claimed to be Odin’s teacher in the past. After removing them…

I guess you should follow their footsteps too.

Tae-Han thought while looking at the old man.

1. A reference to the Monkey King being trapped in Buddha’s palm in the story ‘Journey to the West’ ☜